Electrical switch assembly



Jan. 8, 1963 J. c. Kocl ELECTRICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1960 INVENTOR, JERRY a. K06! nun-"lull ATTORNEY Jan. 8, 1963 J. c. KOCI 3,072,756

ELECTRICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 29, 1960 2 SheetsSheet 2 JERRY 0. K06! LEM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,072,756 ELECTRICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY Jerry C. Koci, Harrington, Ill., assignor to Tabet Manufacturing Company, Inc., Norfolk, Va., a corporation of Virginia Filed Jan. 29, 1960, Ser. No. 5,395 4 Claims. (Cl. 20011) The present invention relates to a circuit making and breaking device formed of a plurality of wafer units each carrying conductors on the face thereof with a rotary device carried by each wafer unit for making and breaking circuit connections to such conductors providing an assembly wherein the wafer units may readily be removed and replaced without detaching any wiring connected to the switch assembly.

It is known in the art to which the invention pertains to provide a frame carrying guideways for receiving edge portions of a wafer unit having conductors on a face thereof which extend to one end of the wafer and are plugged into a multiple contact receptacle carried by the switch frame when the wafer unit is inserted in the frame and it is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in such switch assemblies and particularly the support of the Wafer units and to provide means for individually actuating the rotary circuit making and breaking device carried by any wafer unit.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a plate supporting a panel of insulating material in substantially parallel relationship therewith with the panel having conductors on the face thereof with an actuating mechanism. for the rotor mounted between the plate and the panel and with the plate serving to support the panel when it is arranged in guideways carried by the switch frame so that any one wafer unit may be readily removed from circuit relationship with its multiple contact receptacle carried by the frame and readily removed from the guideways so that any one of the wafer units may be readily replaced.

Other objects and features of the invention will be appreciated and become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains and further objects and features of the invention will be appreciated as the present disclosure proceeds and upon consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein several embodiments of the invention are disclosed. I

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a switch assembly exhibiting the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the switch assembly showing the hinged closure plate in an open position.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the switch assembly with one of the multiple contact receptacles omitted.

FIG. 4 is a plan view with portions of the frame broken away.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of one of the wafer units on a larger scale.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the plate of one water unit showing parts of the switch actuating mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the structure shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the opposite side of the wafer unit.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a modified wafer unit and driving mechanism for the rotor thereof.

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of the waferunit shown in FIG. 10.

The invention is directed to an electrical switch assembly which includes a frame carrying a plurality of guideways for receiving edge portions of the plates of the wafer units. The frame also provides support for a plurality of multiple contact receptacles which is adapted to receive the end portion of a panel of a wafer unit when it is in position in the frame. The panel of each wafer unit carries electrical conductors which engage contacts of a multiple contact receptacle when the wafer unit is in position within the frame. Each wafer unit is provided with an actuating mechanism for the rotary switch thereon and each wafer unit is removable from the frame for ready replacement without disturbing the conductors connected to the switch.

A switch assembly exhibiting such features is shown in the drawings and the frame includes side walls 10 and 11 which are connected by end walls 12 and 14. The

. side wall 10 carries inturned lips 16 and -17 and the side wall 11 carries inturned lips 18 and 19. The lips 16 and 18 may be riveted or otherwise secured to the end wall 12 and the lips 17 and 19 may be riveted to the end wall 14 to provide a substantially rigid open box shaped frame. The side walls .12 and 14 carry ear portions 21 and 22 which provide part of a hinged structure for a swingable closure plate 23. The hinged plate 23 is biased to a closed position shown in FIG. 1 by means of a helical spring 24 which surrounds a pin 26 and p which journals the closure plate forrotation with respect to the ears 21 and 22.

The frame is provided with guideways for the wafer units and in the embodiment illustrated the side walls 10 and 11 carry elongated block members 27 each of i which is provided with a groove 28 which serves as a guideway for the wafer units as hereinafter described. A pair of grooves 28 are provided for each wafer unit and each pair of guideways are aligned transversely of the frame. 7

The side wall 10 carries an inturned flange 31 and the side wall 11 carries an inturned flange 32. The flanges 31 and 32 provide support for a plurality of multiple contact receptacle 33. Each multiple contact receptacle 33 has a plurality of terminals 34 which are in circuit relationship with contacts 35 arranged along opposite faces-of a slot 30 (FIG. 2) ineach multiple contact receptacle.v The multiple contact receptacles 33 may be secured to the flanges 31 and 32 by means of screws 36. The terminals 34 all extend from the rear of the switch frame and are readily accessible for connection to conductors extending to and from the switch assembly.

A panel 38 formed of insulating material anda plate 39 formed of any suitable material such as metal form the principal parts of each wafer unit. The panel 38 carries conductors 41 thereon as shown in FIG. 5 which may be applied by printed circuit methods. These conductorsextend to the end edge 42 of the panel 38 and the portion 43 of the conductors are adapted to engage the contacts 35 of a multiple contact receptacle 33 at one side of the slot 30. The conductors 41 extend to circumferentially spaced contacts 44 and to a conductive ring .46 which is arranged around a central opening 47 (FIG. 9) in the panel 38. A rotor 43 is mounted on the panel 38 for rotation and it may be formed of two 7 parts 49 and 51 which overlie the panel 38 around the perimeter of the opening 47 as shown in FIG. 9. The parts 49 and 51 are formed of insulating material and are secured to each other by a plurality of rivets 52. The rivets 52 also serve to attach wiper arm means 53 to the rotor and the wiper arms are adapted to move over the conductive ring 46 and the contacts 44. A wiper arm device may be provided at both faces of the panel 38 and contacts and conductor-s may be carried by both faces as indicatedin FIGS. 5 and 8.

The plate 39 and the panel 38 are maintained in spaced substantially parallel relationship by means of rivets 54 and spacer elements 56. Actuating means for the rotor 48 is arranged between the panel 38 and the plate 39. The actuating means includes a wheel 57 having a knurled periphery. A rim portion 58 of each wheel carries numerals as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The hinged closure plate 23 is provided with slots 69 through which the knurled portion of each wheel 57 extends and a window 59 is provided for exposing a portion of the rim 58 so that the indexed position of the rotor 44 may be observed fromthe exterior of the switch frame when the hinged plate 23 is in the closed position shown in FIG. 1.

Each wheel 57 is provided with circumferentially spaced openings 61 (FIG. 6) into which spring-pressed balls 62 are resiliently urged. The openings 61 are so spaced circumferentially of the wheel 57 that when the balls 62 are in the openings 61 as shown in FIG. 6 the wheel 57 is releasably retained in one of its indexed positions. The balls 62 are urged towards the opening 61 by means of a leaf type spring 63 which is arranged between one face of the wheel 57 and an inner face of the plate 39 as shown in FIG. 7. The wheel 57 rotates about a stub shaft 64 which extends into an opening at the axis of the rotor 48. The wheel 57 carries a pin 66 which is adapted to extend into a radially disposed aperture 67 carried by the peripheral portion of the rotor 48. The pin 68 provides a driving connection between the wheel57 and the rotor 48. The panel 38 and the plate 39 when secured to each other by the rivets 54 maintain the actuating mechanism in cooperative association with the rotor and the panel 38 and the plate 39 substantially house the actuating mechanism for the switch parts carried by one wafer unit.

The plate 39 has a greater width than the associated panel 38 as will be apparent by a consideration of FIG. 5. The wheel 57 and particularly the knurled portion is of such diameter that a segmental portion 68 projects beyond the edges of the panel 38 and the plate 39 so that it may be engaged by the thumb or fingers for rotating the wheel 57. It is the segmental portion 68 which extends through a slot 69 in the closure plate 23 as shown in FIG.

1 so that any one of the actuating mechanism may be operated from a position outside the housing. The edge portions of the plate 39 which projectrbeyond the edges of-the panel 38'are for the purpose of entering the guideways or the grooves 28 so that each wafer unit may be moved into the frame in a sliding movement. The end portion of the panel 38 adjacent the end edge 42 is adapted to enter the slot 30 in a multiple contact receptacle, 33 and it is for this purpose that each multiple contact receptacle 33 is displaced from the plane of a pair of. confronting grooves 28. In the embodiment illustrated three pairs of guideways or grooves 28 are provided along the side walls and 11 but the number may be increased by lengthening the side walls 10 and 11. When the plate 39 of each wafer unit is moved into the frame the portions.

43 of the conductors '41 engage the contacts 35 of the associated multiple contact member 33 and connections are thus established to the contacts 44 and the conductive ring 46. The hinged closure plate 23 may then be released to swing to the closed position shown in FIG. 1. The knurled portions of each wheel 57 extends through the slot 69 so that the rotors 48 of any one of the rotor units may be turned to any of its switches making and breaking positions. Each of the wafer units may be readily removed from the frame by swinging the closure plate 23 to the open position shown in FIG. 2 when the wafer unit may be withdrawn from the assembly.

A modification of a wafer unit for a similar switch assembly is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. In this embodiment a gear wheel 71 is secured to one face of the rotor 48A carried by the panel 38A. The gear wheel 71 may be formed of insulating material and attached to the rotor 48A by means of rivets. A plate 39A ismaintained in substantially parallel spaced relationship with the panel 4 38A by means of rivets and spacer elements 56. A

knurled wheel 57A is arranged between the plate 39A and the panel 38A. The knurled wheel carries a gear wheel 72 which meshes with the teeth of the gear wheel 71. An indexing mechanism is provided similar to the one described in connection with the gear wheel 57 provides for releasably retaining the knurled wheel 57A in any one of its indexed positions. The wheel 57A is supported for rotation by means of a shaft 73 supported by the plate 39A and the panel 38A.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific structural features it will be appreciated that changes may be made in the details as well as the overall organization. Such changes and others may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An electrical switch assembly comprising, a frame having spaced walls, means carried by said walls providing aligned guideway grooves, a multiple contact receptacle carried by said frame, said multiple contact receptacle having a slot therein spaced from the plane of said guideway grooves, contacts supported by said receptacle along said slot, an insulating panel and a metal plate, means maintaining said panel and said plate as a unit in substantially parallel spaced relationship corresponding to the spacing of said slot from the plane of said guideway grooves opposite side edge portions of said plate extending into said guideway grooves, said panel having an end portion projecting beyond an associated end of said plate, spaced conductors on the face of said panel extending to said end edge thereof with the end portions of the conductors engaging said contacts when said unit is in position within the frame, a rotor mounted for rotation on said panel in the plane'thereof, wiper arm means carried by said rotor adapted to engage and disengage said conductors during rotation of the rotor, a shaft disposed substantially at right angles to said panel supported by said plate with the ends of said shaft terminating substantially flush with an" outer surface of the plate and an outer surface of the panel, an actuating wheel arranged between said panel and said plate and mounted for rotation about the axis of said shaft, a peripheral portion of said wheel projecting beyond the other end of the panel and beyond the cor responding end of said plate, and means transmitting rotation of said wheel to said rotor.

2. An electrical switch assembly according to claim 1 wherein the means transmitting rotation of said'wheel" to said'rotor including a pin carried by said wheel extending into engagement with a peripheral portion of'said rotor.

3. An electrical switch assembly according to claim 1 wherein the means transmitting rotation of said wheel to said rotor includes a gear wheel carried by the rotor and a gear wheel carried by said actuating wheel.

4. An electrical switch assembly according to claim 1 wherein the opposite side edge portions of the plate project'beyond correspnding edges of said panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,414,191 Coon Jan. 14, 1947 2,507,428 Williams May 9, 1950 2,671,830 Gallagher et al. Mar. 9, 1954 2,799,740 Blackman July 16, 1957 2,841,660 Tabet July 1, 1958 2,845,501 George July 29, 1958 2,853,564 Gahagan Sept. 23, 1958 2,938,987 Brown May 31, 1960 2,971,066 Tabet Feb. 7, 1961 2,988,607 Tabet June 13, 1961 

1. AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY COMPRISING, A FRAME HAVING SPACED WALLS, MEANS CARRIED BY SAID WALLS PROVIDING ALIGNED GUIDEWAY GROOVES, A MULTIPLE CONTACT RECEPTACLE CARRIED BY SAID FRAME, SAID MULTIPLE CONTACT RECEPTACLE HAVING A SLOT THEREIN SPACED FROM THE PLANE OF SAID GUIDEWAY GROOVES, CONTACTS SUPPORTED BY SAID RECEPTACLE ALONG SAID SLOT, AN INSULATING PANEL AND A METAL PLATE, MEANS MAINTAINING SAID PANEL AND SAID PLATE AS A UNIT IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SPACED RELATIONSHIP CORRESPONDING TO THE SPACING OF SAID SLOT FROM THE PLANE OF SAID GUIDEWAY GROOVES OPPOSITE SIDE EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID PLATE EXTENDING INTO SAID GUIDEWAY GROOVES, SAID PANEL HAVING AN END PORTION PROJECTING BEYOND AN ASSOCIATED END OF SAID PLATE, SPACED CONDUCTORS ON THE FACE OF SAID PANEL EXTENDING TO SAID END EDGE THEREOF WITH THE END PORTIONS OF THE CONDUCTORS ENGAGING SAID CONTACTS WHEN SAID UNIT IS IN POSITION WITHIN THE FRAME, A ROTOR MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ON SAID PANEL IN 